Thu 21 Jan 2010
HENRY WADE – The Hanging Captain. Perennial Library, reprint paperback; 1st printing, 1981. First published in the UK: Constable, hardcover, 1932. First US edition: Harcourt Brace, hc, 1933 (shown).
Henry Wade is as unlikely an author as you could expect to find in your local paperback bookstore, and thanks should go to whoever at Perennial is responsible for seeing to it that he is. Who knows, maybe even John Rhode will be next!
What Wade does best, at least in this particular example of his work, is to demonstrate that there is no reason why a good, solid detective story must also be dull. There is a lot of importance placed upon alibis and time-tables in this case, and with some splendid cooperation between Scotland Yard and the local police the murderer of Sir Herbert Sterron is inevitably brought to justice.
WARNING: In what follows, certain aspects of the mystery will be discussed that may reveal information that you, the would-be reader, might wish not to know in advance.
I am curious that the dead man’s mysterious affliction was never mentioned. In A Catalogue of Crime, Barzun and Taylor tell us it was syphilis, but it might be noted that it was the English edition that they read.
This one fact explains a good deal. For example, it gives us the reason for the Sterron’s mysterious withdrawal from society some years before. And, what is more, it also adds a strong tinge of irony to the killer’s motive — the overriding reason he did what he did.
Either I missed something, or I suspect that some alteration was done to the American version, which I assume this edition follows. If the latter, what’s lost is a fine opportunity to make the final, crushing blow the book would (and should) have had.
(the last two paragraphs substantially revised)
Editorial Comment: Not only did Perennial publish this book by Wade, but they did at least the following as well: A Dying Fall (1955), The Litmore Snatch (1957), Mist on the Saltings (1933*) and New Graves at Great Norne (1947*). The dates given are for the first UK edition; those so indicated with an asterisk were first published in the US by Perennial.
The reference to John Rhode was, I presume at this much later date, meant to be an inside joke. Perennial did indeed publish at least two books by Rhode in paperback: The Claverton Affair (1933) and Death in Harley Street (1946).
January 22nd, 2010 at 2:59 am
Nice jacket, I’d never seen it before. This title is not as inspired as some of Wade’s others, but it’s solid enough. Wade himself was one of the major British detective novelists of the GA period and it’s a real shame that he hasn’t been in print since the 1980’s (his neglected status continues with PD JAmes’ failure to mention him in her recent survey). I corresponded with his surviving son for my book and was able to get copies of some photos of Wade around the time of his WW1 service.
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:25 am
Here’s what Barzun and Taylor have to say about Wade:
“Though insufficiently known in the US, Wade is one of the great figures of the classical period. He was not only very productive bit also varied in genre. His plots, characters, situations, and means rank with the best, while his prose has elegance and force.”
He wrote a total of 22 detective novels or story collections between 1926 and 1957, which really isn’t all that many, and six of them have never had a US edition. Two that were published here had only Perennial editions.
I’ve often wondered who was in charge of the mystery reprint program back then. They published a lot of books from the Golden Age tradition, books that no one else was doing, even at that time.
— Steve
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:44 am
This is strange. Since I’d just pulled out my copy of CATALOGUE OF CRIME to find that quote above, I looked to find and re-read their comments on THE HANGING CAPTAIN again.
And it’s not there. It’s in the First Edition, but not the Revised and Expanded edition.
In fact, while the original book has comments on all 20 novels, the expanded edition has reviews of only 13.
All of the books between THE DUKE OF YORK’S STEPS and LONELY MAGDALEN are missing, alphabetically speaking.
This must have been some sort of production error, so I’m glad I held onto my copy of the First Edition!
Incidentally, the First Edition (1971) cost $18.95. The Revised Edition (1989) went for $50. What a jump in price! I’m glad I got the Revised Edition as a review copy — I still have the slip tucked inside.
— Steve
January 22nd, 2010 at 5:59 pm
This was the first Wade I read, and it’s my favourite, largely because it’s a traditional country house detective story, with mysterious visitors prowling around the shrubbery in the dead of night.
I’ve read all of Wade’s books (finished the last one last year), and, on the whole, don’t particularly like him. Although he’s been called a Humdrum, he wasn’t very interested in detection or plotting. From 1935/36, he essentially stopped writing detective stories, and turned to police procedurals or Ilesian crime novels, and in at least three books, the murderer’s identity is left deliberately ambiguous.
I also find his personality cold and repellent, generally lacking in humour (as opposed to irony) or sympathy. He’s also extraordinarily Tory (he was strongly opposed to the welfare society, and the happy ending of one book is the reinstatement of the death penalty), which is more interesting from a historical perspective than from a reader’s.
That said, The Missing Partners, The Duke of York’s Steps, No Friendly Drop, Constable, Guard Thyself! and Heir Presumptive (an Ilesian book) are all very good.
On the whole, though, certainly not in the same class as Street, Crofts or Connington.
January 22nd, 2010 at 7:12 pm
Steve, I forget the name, but the man in charge of those reprints was very much influenced by Barzun’s opinion. It was a great series.
I too noticed some of those Wade titles are missing from the 2nd ed.
Wade reminds me of PD James, very bleak world view and someone who became more and more interested in writing crime novels rather than detective novels (or even what me be better seen as straight novels with a crime element). Why he isn’t more highly regarded by modern critics, who tend to like that sort of development, is odd.
My favorite Wades are Heir Presumptive, No Friendly Drop and The Dying Alderman. Lonely Magdalen and Mist on the Saltings are interesting, but more crime novels than detective novels. Missing Partners and Duke of York’s Steps have a lot of good points, as does A Dying Fall, though the latter feels a bit thin compared to earlier efforts.
January 22nd, 2010 at 7:43 pm
Nick
It took me the longest while — well maybe a minute — to decipher the word Ilesian. You used it twice, so I assumed you hadn’t misspelled another word that you intended to use.
Finally it came to me. Iles-ian, as in Iles-like!
Francis Iles, that is …
— Steve
January 22nd, 2010 at 8:08 pm
I’ve only read a few Wade novels. But so far, agree with Nick: Wade is not that interesting. His plotting seems uncreative.
Will have to check out some of the Better Wade Books picked out above.
January 22nd, 2010 at 9:03 pm
Mike, if you’re interested in puzzle construction, you should take a look at Verdict of You All, Missing Partners, Duke of York’s Steps, Dying Alderman, No Friendly Drop, A Dying Fall. Heir Presumptive is an effective, blackly humorous inverted.
Books like Mist on the Saltings and Lonely Magdalen are moving more into crime novel territory, which may not be to everyone’s taste, but I personally prefer them to many of PD James’ efforts, for what that is worth.
I can’t agree with the view that Wade lacks sympathy. I think he had considerable tragic sense. Like James, he often deals with unlikable (or seriously flawed) characters, however. He’s rather bleak. But I think the genre has room for bleakness in its Golden Age.